JBS SA hires lawyers to oversee compliance program

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – JBS SA, the world’s largest meat packer by volume, named Marcelo Proença as the company’s head of Global Compliance and enlisted the international law firm of White & Case LLP to assist in the development of a new compliance office within the Sao Paulo, Brazil-based meat packer.

The hires come after the Federal Police in Brazil raided the office of JBS SA and holding company FB Participações SA as part of an investigation into insider trading. The raid came just three days after the company agreed to sell its beef operations in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to companies controlled by Minerva SA.

Proença joins JBS after a 27-year career as a lawyer and academic, JBS said. He currently teaches commercial law at the Univ. of São Paulo, and he also is a professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation and has published eight books. Proença earned masters and doctorate degrees from the Univ. of São Paulo.

“My goal is to improve the compliance program by making it a model for the market with full internal and external controls which I am confident will ensure a lasting successful company that will evolve greatly in building trust and reputation with stakeholders and, in particular, with employees, market and society,” Proença said in a statement. “I believe that my experience is in line with JBS Board of Directors’ goals in establishing best business practices at JBS.”

To assist Proença is the law firm of White & Case LLP which will advise JBS on the evaluation and implementation of the company’s compliance program.

“These are just the first steps but they are also fundamental to our goal of raising JBS’s governance level and making it a global governance benchmark,” said Tarek Farahat, chairman of JBS and the Governance Committee.

Comment on this Article

The views expressed in the comments section of Meat and Poultry News do not reflect those of Meat and Poultry News or its parent company, Sosland Publishing Co., Kansas City, Mo. Concern regarding a specific comment may be registered with the Editor by clicking the Report Abuse link.
Enter code as it is shown (required):